Untitled NozoEli Story
by tried-to-write
Summary: Nozomi confesses but runs away before Eli can reply. Years later they meet unexpectedly but this time Nozomi can't run away again. Will they confront their feelings or will they just pretend that the confession never happened?
1. Chapter 1

It was early in the evening and the sun was starting to set. Only the top half of the sun peeked out from the horizon and lit the sky with a bright orange glow. It was late April and it was the last day of school for the third years.

Two long-time best friends were walking home together from Otonokizaka High for presumably the last time after a mini graduation party hosted by the new student council president and her vice presidents. The whole of μ's was there to attend the party along with other specially invited guests such as their various family members and Hideko, Fumiko and Mika.

The third year trio had a pleasant surprise when they walked into the rearranged clubroom to find all their friends there to celebrate their graduation and was thankful for the party.

Soon it was late in the afternoon and they had to leave the school to go home lest they be locked in. The members of μ's decided to walk home together for one last time while the rest went on ahead. They chatted happily about various things as the group of nine walked home together.

As they reached a fork in the path, Nozomi and Eli had to split from the rest to go home. They all shared a hug as they held back restrained tears to prevent the moment from turning into a bawling event.

As the lively chatter from the other seven faded out, the two best friends settled into a comfortable silence. Usually, they would be talking about random things but they felt like they should appreciate the peacefulness this time instead.

It wasn't long before they reached the next section where they had to split. Nozomi spoke up, surprising Eli who had also just opened her mouth to say goodbye.

"Elicchi, I..." Nozomi paused and bit her lip, clearly hesitant to continue. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I have something to tell you." She said in a more serious tone.

Eli frowned at the serious look on her usually playful best friend's face.

"What is it, Nozomi? You can tell me anything," Eli said in an attempt to comfort her friend in some way.

"P-promise me, Ericchi, promise me that no matter what you won't hate me?"

Eli felt worried. Nozomi sounded genuinely scared that she would destroy their friendship with what she was about to reveal. _It must be a really serious thing, _Eli thought, _but whatever it is, I'm sure that it wouldn't change anything._

"I promise that whatever you say, I won't hate you." Eli replied with a confident smile. She was, however, not prepared for what Nozomi was about to say next.

"Elicchi... I... I love you! And not in the best friends way either!"

"... E-eh?"

"I... I want to hold you and touch you and kiss you and do all the other things lovers do together!" Nozomi blurted out, months of pent up emotion finally being let out.

Eli was speechless. She had not expected that at all. Nozomi's sudden confession had stunned her and she had no idea how to react.

Nozomi took Eli's lack of reaction as rejection. Tears started leaking from her eyes and she hastily turned around and ran.

Eli stood rooted at her spot, staring blankly at the purple haired girl's back as she ran further and further away from her until she disappeared into the horizon. Eli wanted to run after her but she herself did not know her own feelings and wouldn't know what to say if she did catch up to her.

Eli snapped out of her confusion after a while and decided to go back home. Her mind replayed the scene that had just occurred over and over again.

When she reached home, she half-heartedly greeted Arisa who had been eagerly waiting for her return as she trudged up the stairs to her bedroom. Arisa was left with a slightly hurt and confused look which the older blonde did not notice.

Questions were raging furiously throughout Eli's mind, the most prominent one being _'Do I love Nozomi the same way?'_

* * *

This question repeated itself in Eli's head while she lay in bed face up, arm on her forehead as she stared at the ceiling trying to figure out an answer to the question refusing to leave her alone.

She thought back to her earlier conversation with Arisa after dinner.

_"Nee-chan, are you okay?"_

_"Ah? Yeah I'm fine."_

_"Are you sure? You've been acting weirdly since you've got home."_

_"Y-yeah it's nothing. I'm just... Thinking about something."_

_There was silence between them for a moment before Arisa suddenly exclaimed, slamming a fist down on her other open hand._

_"Ah, I got it now! You got in a fight with Nozomi nee-chan didn't you?"_

_"H-huh? What m-makes you say that? I-I have n-no idea what you're t-talking about."_

_Eli stuttered out in defense, nervously looking away. Arisa just smiled proudly._

_"Ah-ha! I knew it! You only look this distressed when it has something to do with Nozomi nee-chan. What is it? You can tell me anything."_

_Arisa looked up at Eli with big, shining eyes, expectantly waiting for her older sister to spill her troubles. Eli could only blush as she wondered, is Nozomi really that important to me?_

_Eli turned to look at Arisa and gave a defeated sigh. Knowing how persistent her sister was, she wouldn't leave her alone unless she told her what happened._

_"You see... Today when we were walking home, she kind of told me... a secret... about herself and I'm not sure how I feel about it and she maybe, kind of... ran off... because she thought I hated her..."_

_Eli slowly spoke, rephrasing the situation as best as she could to not reveal too much. Her sister had her head down, eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed, thinking deeply about what Eli had said before suddenly opening her eyes and looking up with a frown. She dramatically pointed at Eli._

_"Onee-chan!"_

_Startled by her sister's outburst, Eli immediately sat up straight._

_"Y-yes!"_

_"You should apologize to Nozomi nee-chan!"_

_"H-huh?"_

_"For three years she's been your best friend and only friend, might I add, until μ's came along, how could you let such a silly thing ruin your friendship? She told you a secret right? She must have needed to gather a lot of courage to do such a thing and now she thinks you hate her because of it... she must be really hurting right now!"_

_"Y-you're right! I should go apologize to her now!"_

_Eli quickly stood up and moved towards the door._

_"A-ah, nee-chan! I-it's too late to go now! She's probably already asleep!"_

_After Eli settled down, they decided that it was time for them to sleep too. As they went up the stairs, Eli called out to her younger sister._

_"Arisa..."_

_"Yes, nee-chan?"_

_Eli gave a huge warm smile to her sister._

_"Thank you."_

_Arisa's eyes widened a bit before she returned the smile with a huge bright grin._

_"You're welcome, onee-chan."_

Eli subconsciously smiled at the memory. She was really grateful to Arisa for helping her out. She thought back to the topic of their conversation again.

_Nozomi..._

"She's always been there for me and is always able to put up with my stubbornness. She was my first friend here and probably the only one who has ever understood me. She is my best friend and I love her."

_But do I love her in that way?_

And with that they were back to square one. However, one thing Eli was sure of now was that she didn't want to lose Nozomi as a friend.

* * *

Eli marched out of the house determinedly. She had already decided to continue being Nozomi's best friend and she was going to keep to that decision. She could also figure out her feelings in the meantime and hopefully be able to answer Nozomi's confession properly. Who knows, she could even return those feelings. Eli blushed at the thought of the two of them being a couple.

_Holding hands... going on dates... maybe even k-kissing_? Eli's face flushed an even deeper scarlet as an image of her and Nozomi kissing popped into her mind.

She slapped herself and internally berated herself for thinking such thoughts.

_B-besides, I still haven't figured out my feelings for her yet..._

* * *

Eli finally stood outside the door to her best friend's apartment. She fidgeted nervously as she glanced at the familiar sight of the slightly peeling wallpaper and the old worn out door in front of her. She reached a finger out to ring the doorbell. As her finger slowly approached the small round button, she could hear her heart beating madly in her ears and feel the waves of doubt creeping on her. She quickly shot her finger forward to press the doorbell before she could actually change her mind.

She anxiously waited for Nozomi to answer the door, mentally prepping herself for what to say to the other girl when she appears. After a few minutes, Eli started to panic. _Why is Nozomi taking so long to answer the door? _She rang the doorbell again and waited for another few minutes. _She's probably just still sleeping or something. There's no need to worry..._ Eli could tell that she was doubting her own words and tried her best to quell her rising panic. She knocked on the door instead this time and called out Nozomi's name for extra measure_. W-what if she's a-avoiding me? O-or what if she injured herself?_ Eli started to imagine all the worse possible situations Nozomi could have gotten in. With each new worry, she started to knock even more frantically and even got to the point of banging on the door and yelling, "Nozomi! Are you okay?"

Eli froze when she heard the door from the next apartment open, her hand halfway to the door in front of her. _Shit, did I wake her neighbours up?_

Eli had not been able to sleep the entire night, plagued with thoughts about her best friend's confession and as a result had gone over fairly early, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. Overcome with worry for her best friend, she had forgotten that the other residents might have still been sleeping and did not consider that her actions might wake them up.

She slowly turned her head to face the open door to her right. As expected, the head popping out of the beige door wore an irritated expression at being woken up so rudely. She glared icily at the quarter Russian blonde for a moment before stating in an annoyed tone,

"If you're looking for that big-boobed girl, she left a message for you. She's already moved out to join her parents in Germany or something."

With that, she slammed her door close, grumbling to herself under her breath about how "kids these days are so inconsiderate".

Eli's heart sank.

_Is it my fault?_

* * *

_**A/N: **_If ya'll have any suggestions for a title that'd be great (I suck at titles I don't know how all those other authors can come up with such great titles). This is my second fanfic pls don't bite (too hard). My first is a oneshot I posted on my tumblr so yeah go check that out too if you're interested (my tumblr is of the same name). Also for those of you who don't know, Hideko, Fumiko and Mika are those three girls that are always helping them in the anime ye :D


	2. Chapter 2

**-8 years later-**

"Could you tilt your head up a bit more? And move your hand just slightly to the left. Yeah, just like that! That's great!" Nozomi shouted out orders as the model in front of her complied and changed her pose accordingly.

Nozomi quickly took some pictures when the model got into the right position, the noise of the camera shutters drowned out by the surrounding hustle and bustle of the crew.

"And... that's a wrap!"

Nozomi turned off her camera and placed it into the leather pouch slung around her neck. She went forward to shake the model's hand, the latter doing the same.

The model had lustrous brown wavy hair that cascaded past her shoulders, stopping right below her breasts. Her large eyes were a bright lime green, emphasized by the light purple eye shadow and violet eye-liner applied wonderfully by the make-up artist. She had a cute button nose with full lips curving up to reveal dimples. Her cheeks were covered with a light pink blush. She wore a strapless frilly satin green dress that reached down to right below her knees, revealing smooth spotless skin, and long legs that led to beige high heels which matched her skin tone and made her slightly taller than Nozomi.

"It was nice working with you, Toujou-san," the model said as they shook hands.

"You were a pleasure to work with too, Izumi-han," Nozomi good-naturedly replied.

"If you don't mind, would you like to join me and some of my colleagues for dinner tonight?" Izumi asked when they separated.

Nozomi thought about it for a while. _Well, why not?_

* * *

Nozomi settled down on the comfy leather couch in her living room, glad to finally be able to rest her tired aching feet after a long tiring day at work. Dinner had ended up a bit crazy with most of them getting drunk and one of them had even tried to hit on her. _The yakiniku there was great though. I should visit again some other time. _

She propped her feet up on the wooden coffee table in front of the couch while simultaneously picking up the TV remote controller lying beside a bowl of apples on the table to turn on her Samsung UHD television, the speakers on both sides of it automatically turning on at the same time. She took an apple and bit out a sizable chunk as she flipped channels. It gave out a loud, satisfying crunch that prompted Nozomi to continue biting into it. By the time she found a channel she liked, she had already finished eating the apple, save the core which she expertly threw into the nearby dustbin. The advertisements had just came on when her phone rang, its ringtone permeating through the noise coming from the television. Nozomi groaned in displeasure. She had left her phone on the bedside table in her bedroom and was too lazy to go answer it after getting so comfortable on her couch. After a few seconds of incessant ringing, Nozomi decided that it could be an important call and went to pick up her phone. She turned off the television and slowly got up. She immediately missed the comfort of her couch and could feel the ache return to her feet again. She trudged into her bedroom and grabbed the phone vibrating on the table. She plopped down on her bed as she pressed the button to answer the call.

"Hello? This is Toujou Nozomi speaking." Nozomi fought to keep a professional tone instead of just shouting at the person on the other side of the line for disturbing her rest time.

"Good evening, Toujou-san. Sorry to disturb you so late. I am Takashi Yamato from Star Magazine and we are looking for talented photographers like you to join us for a photo-shoot taking place next month. You would be working with a new and upcoming model from Russia, Lia, and, the also recently starting fashion designer duo, NiTori. There will be a meeting tomorrow morning for you to get acquainted with each other. We will also be discussing more details about the photo-shoot. If you are interested, please tell me your email address and I will send an email containing all the necessary details about the meeting later."

Nozomi perked up at this. Star Magazine was really popular among teenagers these days. Not to mention, NiTori's clothes had shown up on a few fashion magazines she had seen and she had to admit that they were really good. Nobody knows how they look like or who they are since they refuse to reveal their identity though.

This was quite a last minute arrangement but this was also the golden opportunity for her career and Nozomi could not refuse. She told Yamato her email address and heard the faint sounds of lead scratching on paper from the other end.

"Thank you very much! I shall email you the details in a short while. Have a good day."

Nozomi let out a huge sigh when she heard the monotonous beeping coming from the earpiece indicating that the caller had hung up. A few minutes later, her phone buzzed as it received a notification that she had a new email.

She opened it up and began to skim through the email. Her eyes almost bulged out in surprise as she noticed the time the meeting would start.

_7am?! That's way too early! And the place isn't that near either,_ Nozomi mentally complained.

Nozomi was not going to pass up this job anytime soon though. She put her phone back on the table and leaned back onto the headboard. She stared blankly at the ceiling.

_I guess I should do some research on Lia and NiTori._

Nozomi looked up to glance at her laptop sitting on the white work table on the opposite end of the room and felt the ache in her feet return tenfold.

_Or maybe not… _

Nozomi felt her eyes begin to droop. She felt really sleepy all of a sudden. She laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over her body. Closing her eyes and snuggling deeper into her pillow, she drifted off to sleep.

_I'll do a search on them tomorrow…_

* * *

_Oh no! It's already 6.15am! _

Nozomi quickly got into the bathroom to have a quick shower and brush her teeth. When she was done, she quickly put on a plain black blouse with a light beige cotton skirt and dashed out of the house, almost forgetting to lock the door. She mentally cursed herself for not getting a driver's license as she tried to hail a taxi. A few taxis passed by her before she finally got one to stop. She told the driver her destination as she hastily got in.

When she arrived, she passed him a bunch of bills, telling him to keep the change as she quickly ran into the building. A security guard stopped her but let her go after Nozomi told him what she was there for. She spotted the lift door closing in the distance. She sprinted there as fast as she could and stuck her foot between the doors just in time to prevent it from fully closing. She was thankful as the doors slowly opened again that there was no one else in the lift that could see how crazy she looked with her hair and clothes in a mess. She glanced down at her watch. _6.55am. Good, I still have 5 minutes left. _Nozomi took the time to tidy up her appearance and make herself presentable for the meeting.

She smoothened down the hair that stuck up from the mad dash earlier and took out her red hair tie from her right pocket. She combed through her hair with her fingers before tying it up with the red hair tie. She then took out two equally red clips from her left pocket and clipped up her fringe that had been covering her right eye. She straightened her blouse with one hand and used her other hand to smoothen out any wrinkles that had formed on it.

The lift let out a _'ding!' _as it reached her designated floor. She stepped out of the lift and took her time searching for the meeting room, giving herself more time to calm her breathing. Soon, she found the door that had a brass plate on it with the words **Meeting Room 04 **engraved on it. She took another peek at her watch. _6.59am, just in time._

She felt her hands shake as she reached out to open the door. She was starting to get nervous but she ignored it. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Her eyes widened when she saw the familiar figure in front of her.

* * *

_**A/N: **_I love cliffhangers, don't you? Sry for taking so long to update tho, school's been kind of a bitch y'know? (i s2g i literally spend more time in sch than at home)

Thanks _Kumiko-chii_ and _Crimson_ for your title suggestions but um I'm looking for sth different..? But i guess that's my fault cos ya'll can't really tell what the  
story's about from the first chapter oops sry bout that. Thanks all you others for your reviews, favs and follows too! I welcome more suggestions ayy ヽ(○･▽･○)ﾉﾞ

Uhm I don't really know anything about fashion or make-up so if their clothes or make-up are kinda weird then yeah sry... Constructive criticism welcomed :D

Also big thanks to my bff, tried-to-art, for the wonderful cover art (go check out her tumblr of the same name ye)


	3. Chapter 3

A puff of warm air escaped her lips as Eli let out a bored sigh. Her flight to Japan was being delayed due to an unexpected heavy snowstorm. She had been sitting in the airport's cafeteria for about two hours and was running out of ideas to pass the time. At this rate, she would definitely be late for her meeting. She let out another long sigh as she slumped down in her seat.

* * *

"Ah!"

The two women stared disbelievingly at each other. Was it really..?

Their staring match was broken by a loud beeping sound. The Star Magazine representative (who is presumably Takashi from the call yesterday), sensing the tension filling the room, hastily took his phone out to read his new message.

"Well it seems that Lia-san is reaching soon and I'll be going down to collect her. Since you two seem to know each other, I'll leave the two of you to catch up." With that, Takashi quickly left the room.

Nozomi sheepishly walked up to the familiar woman, unsure of how she would react to Nozomi's sudden appearance in Japan again. She had definitely not been prepared when two warm arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in for a tight hug.

"You idiot! How could you leave without telling me anything? Do you know how worried we were? How worried I was?"

Nico gripped her blouse tightly and Nozomi could feel her blouse turn damp. Guilt stabbed her heart as she saw how much she had hurt her friend (are they even still friends?) when she left. When her parents had called her while the heartache was still fresh, she hadn't really thought about the consequences of her leaving. Now she could see how selfish she had been. She could have called at least once or twice in the past 8 years but she had been afraid. Afraid of what, she wasn't really sure.

She gently returned the hug, softly apologising for her selfish actions.

"I'm sorry I did that but I'm back now and I'm not leaving. Forgive me?"

Nico slowly nodded and they remained in that position for a while before Nico pushed herself away from Nozomi's body. Her cheeks were slightly pink from crying but also with embarrassment. Knowing that she was now forgiven, she couldn't help but tease the smaller woman.

"Aww Nicocchi, did you miss me that much?" Nozomi cheekily grinned as she pulled Nico back for another hug.

"Of course I did," Nico immediately muttered in reply, cutely pouting.

Not expecting such an answer from her tsundere friend, Nozomi couldn't help but swoon at the adorable sight before her.

Just then, they heard a click from the far end of the room. They turned their heads towards the door only to see a stunned Kotori gaping at them. The little bird's gaze flickered back and forth between the two women in confusion, lingering at the sight of Nozomi a bit longer.

"Eh? What's going on..?"

* * *

Eli plopped down into the somewhat comfy seat after stuffing her belongings into the compartment above. After waiting for three hours, she was finally able to board her plane. She watched one of the on-flight movies before deciding to sleep through the rest of the flight.

Ever since her manager told her of the job, old memories had resurfaced and she was quite nervous yet excited to go back to Japan. As a result, her past few nights had been a bit restless and she was pretty tired.

Would she meet her past friends again? Maybe not, Japan was quite big after all. She should maybe visit Otonokizaka High on one of her free days to see how its doing. Maybe she'll meet Kotori or her mother. Maybe she should arrange a reunion for µ's if all of them were in Japan.

It was these thoughts she fell asleep to as she buried her face into the small pillow provided.

* * *

"So Nozomi-chan is going to be the photographer?"

"Yep."

"Oh… Wow, that's such a coincidence! But uhm… why do you look like you were crying then, Nico-chan?"

"T-that's because–!"

Nozomi giggled at Nico's embarrassed spluttering but was only half listening to their conversation as she took in the changes in her new colleagues.

Nico had ditched her childish twintails in favour of just letting her hair down. Unfortunately for her it seems, her body had not grown an inch in the last 8 years. Aside from that though, Nico has really matured in both appearance and personality.

Kotori seems to have kept the same hairstyle throughout the years. She had grown quite a bit and was starting to look quite like her mother. She had the same warm and kind aura and although she looked much more mature, she still had the same innocence as she did when they were school idols.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she realised that her name was being called by the other two occupants of the room. She sheepishly scratched the back of her neck, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that again?"

"What happened to you after graduation?"

Nozomi started to sweat nervously. Should she tell them?

"Well, I missed my parents so I went to Germany to live with them again before going to college. After that I came back to Japan to become a photographer," Nozomi blurted out the first plausible excuse she could think of. It wasn't a complete lie but it wasn't the full truth either. She would never have ditched all her friends for 8 years to be with her parents in Germany.

Kotori nodded and seemed to accept her explanation but Nico just narrowed her eyes at her, knowing that Nozomi was not telling the whole truth. Before Nico could open her mouth to further question her, the door burst open and Takashi came in at a brisk walk. Nozomi felt her heart stop as behind him followed two blondes, one oh so painfully familiar and the other not. Beside her, the fashion duo's eyes widened comically as Nozomi weakly said,

"Elicchi…"

* * *

Eli was rushed into the cab by her manager. They had arrived right at 7am and were late for their meeting. Luckily, their hotel was on the way so they were able to quickly drop off their luggage first. The Star Magazine rep was already waiting for them at the entrance to the building when they arrived. On the way up, he informed them that the others had already arrived but were only catching up with each other so they haven't really missed anything important.

Eli stopped dead in her tracks when she walked into Meeting Room 04. Her eyes focused straight onto the pony-tailed woman in front of her who visibly froze.

_Nozomi…  
_

* * *

_**A/N:** _I'm sorry I took so long to update this and it's so short. I kept rewriting this chapter because I don't really feel very satisifed with my writing in this chapter but I'm not sure how to improve it further either so... Constructive criticsm welcome!

Ugh I know I said I would update this like a week ago and I actually did finish writing this last week but I have really been too busy to upload this since school started and considering how it's only the second week of school and I feel like dying already, I may not be able to update any time soon. I'll try my best to write the next chapter in my free time though (which is really only when I'm travelling to school). Another reason I'm taking so long to write this story is because I keep thinking up so many other AUs for various Love Live pairings and I just have to write those too (although they're all stuck at chapter 1 oops) so look forward to them! (If I ever finish them)

That being said, thank you guys for all of your support for this story! I really didn't think anybody would like it at all so thanks so much guys! T^T

Also big thank you to my bff tried-to-art (check out her tumblr) for (sort of) beta-ing this for me despite how busy she is too! (I say sort of because she only helps to check that the story makes sense so any grammatical errors or other wrong things are my fault)


	4. Chapter 4

The tension in the air was palpable. Takashi was starting to sweat nervously as he looked between the model and photographer. Was there something wrong? The two women had their gazes fixated on each other, neither daring to look away. He clapped his hands together to get the attention of everyone in the room, feeling an even greater pressure surrounding him when all eyes were then on him.

"Since everyone is here, shall we start the meeting?" Takashi tried to say calmly but failed to hide the slight tremor that came out in his voice.

Thankfully, that seemed to work as everyone in the room quietly took their seats and the rest of the meeting went by without a hitch with Eli letting her manager do all the talking. Eli couldn't help glancing at Nozomi every chance she got. Nozomi had changed a lot in the past few years and Eli had a lot of questions. First, she had to get close to the other woman again. As evident by a few moments before, the two of them could not suddenly revert back to how they were years ago, as much as Eli wanted them to. Hence, as she half-heartedly listened to the meeting, she came up with a plan to rekindle their lost friendship.

Nozomi was leaving the room with Nico and Kotori when a voice called out to her. The voice belonged to none other than Eli, of course.

"Hey Nozomi... Do you want to have lunch together?" Eli asked, words hesitant.

Nozomi was dumbfounded. Was Eli really asking her out to lunch? She instinctively grabbed a nearby Nico over by the arm, the shorter girl stumbling as she was suddenly pulled over roughly.

"I'm sorry, I already have plans to go out with Nico," Nozomi lied.

Nico looked at her weirdly. "What pl-" She was sharply cut off when Nozomi squeezed her arm tightly, almost cutting off the blood supply to her entire arm. She shot Nozomi an annoyed glare which went ignored but did not continue talking further.

Eli felt disheartened at the rejection. She didn't expect the other woman to be all over her, but hadn't they been best friends? Couldn't they still be best friends? Eli licked her lips anxiously. She couldn't give up on Nozomi.

"Can I follow you two out then?"

Eli surprised even her own self with the amount of conviction she spoke those words with. But, she thought back to her first year in high school. If Nozomi hadn't called out to her that first day in school, she wouldn't have gotten to know Nozomi or any of her other friends and they might not have been able to save the school. Truly, that moment had been the catalyst to all the joy that she had experienced in high school. So now, she has to pay her back. Now, she will be the one chasing, even if she gets rejected at first.

Meanwhile, Nozomi was starting to feel anxious. She wasn't ready to talk to Eli. Not about her feelings, not about their relationship, and especially not when the blonde had grown up to be so hot!

"Sure, the more the merrier, right?"

Nozomi whipped her head around to gape at Nico in shock and betrayal. She only got a devious smirk in return. Eli's entire face lit up and Nozomi couldn't help but think of how _adorable_ she looked but also of how she was so going to _strangle_ the life out of Nico the next time she sees her. Eli thanked them for letting her tag along and excused herself to inform her manager of her sudden change in plans for the day, a pair of turquoise eyes trailing after her.

Nico took the opportunity to escape, yelling a quick "Bye, I have other plans!" and dashing off after Kotori, who had left without her, before Nozomi could give chase. Nozomi could only silently plan out her ultra special washi washi max revenge attack on the mischievous little imp as the eager blonde beauty returned to find herself alone with the photographer. Eli was confused by Nico's sudden appearance but also pleased that they would be able to have a private time to talk. Her plan was starting to work out after all.

* * *

Being more familiar with the area, Nozomi was automatically chosen to lead the way. Both were quiet as they walked. She brought Eli to a nearby coffee shop. It was small and quaint with not a lot of customers, but the food was good and the lack of crowd made it a place they could relax in.

The door opened with the tinkling of a bell chime, alerting everyone inside of their arrival. Although not many, all eyes could be felt on the two, or more specifically, on the breathtakingly gorgeous blonde with a slim body and long slender legs that seemed to go on forever.

Eli was used to all the attention, being a model albeit a new one. However, Nozomi was not used to all the stares in her direction and felt uneasy even though she knew that they were all directed at the quarter-Russian woman beside her. She couldn't blame them though. She understood full well that the woman was _hot_.

They sat at an empty table by a corner. It was a small round wooden table. It was just a bit more secluded than the other tables and was enough for them to carry out a private discussion. In order to avoid bring kicked out of the establishment, they ordered a few sandwiches and some drinks. A cup of tea for Nozomi, and a hot chocolate for Eli.

Feelings of nostalgia filled them as they recalled the various times they had eaten out together in the past. These feelings fuelled Eli's hopes to mend their former bond. However, it did not give her any ideas on how to do so. Although she had spent the entire meeting devising a plan for that to happen, this was the only thing she could come up with, talking their problems out through lunch.

Unfortunately, this seemed to have been too much a spontaneous plan. Honestly, she hadn't expected to have gotten this far and when Nozomi had mentioned plans with Nico, Eli had already given up hope. And after succeeding, all she could think to herself was to _not mess up_. So now, she had no clue how to start the conversation having not thought it out this far. She couldn't give up now though and forced herself to say something.

"Uhh... Nozomi... So..."

Well, not the best start, but she'd have to push on.

"Well... What are you doing these days..?"

_Eli, you stupid idiot! You already know that she's a photographer! _

Eli was at her wits' end when she heard a giggle. It was a familiar sound that she had missed hearing.

"Elicchi, you haven't changed a bit!" Nozomi exclaimed while being unable to stop her giggling. This dork-ish side of Eli that the blonde kept hidden from the public, the side of Eli that was shown to Nozomi only and no one else.

_Was._

Eli had probably already shown it to someone else. Someone closer. A lot of things could happen in 8 years, _including new relationships. _Nozomi couldn't help but feel a prick in her heart as she kept her smile up.

She was surprised when a sudden and familiar voice called her name.

"Nozomi-san~!"

Nozomi was bewildered when the beautiful model she had worked with the previous day suddenly appeared beside her table. Eli looked at the newcomer with an odd feeling of apprehension. _Who is she?_

"Izumi-han? What are you doing here?" Nozomi asked in surprise.

"I happened to be passing by and I saw you in here so I thought I'd say hi! Last night was fun, wasn't it?"

Eli could barely hide her splutter as she heard those words. _Last night?!_ Luckily, her cup of tea had been left untouched on the table. She then decided to take a few sips to calm herself down.

"Would you like to go for a second round tonight?"

"Mmm... I'd prefer if there were less people around."

"Oh! How about you come around to my place tonight then? We can have a _private _dinner, just the two of us," Izumi said in a flirtatious tone, invitingly winking.

Nozomi only laughed in reply while Eli nearly spat her tea out, instead forcing the warm liquid down her throat and coughing roughly as her throat burned as a result. _What is with this innuendo-filled conversation? Do they even know how suggestive they sound?_

Eli glanced at the two women as they exchanged phone numbers. They didn't seem to have noticed her nearly choking, which was good.

As the perky brunette left with a cheery "Bye bye~!", Nozomi and Eli were left once again by themselves.

There wasn't the awkward tension that had been there before but Nozomi could sense the sour mood emitting from the woman sitting opposite her. If one was not looking closely, they might think that she was acting indifferent. But to the trained eyes of one such as Nozomi (it doesn't matter how long it has been, Nozomi had never- _could_ never- forget the other woman), it was easy to tell that there was a subtle furrow in her eyebrows and her lips were slightly curled into a pout as her eyes, swimming with conflicted emotions, pointedly avoided meeting Nozomi's own.

Nozomi could clearly remember Eli exhibiting similar behaviour before and more importantly, _the reason behind it_. Nozomi's mouth grew into a cat grin as she took on a teasing tone and asked, "Elicchi, could it be? Are you... jealous?"

As expected, Eli's eyes widened, her face very much looking like a child's who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The sight of such an adorable expression on the mature woman's face made Nozomi want to snicker, so snicker she did. The blonde felt her entire face heat up as she realised that she had been so easily seen through.

"H-hey Nozomi, don't laugh!"

This only elicited an even heartier laughter to escape the photographer, causing Eli to turn even redder.

"Jeez, you always tease me like this."

"I can't help it if you always give me such cute reactions." Nozomi grinned, her point illustrated by the adult woman opposite her still blushing and pouting. Eli just made it too easy.

Nozomi felt guilty for feeling perhaps more than a bit giddy that Eli had been jealous over her. But, she couldn't help but feel that way as it meant that she was still important enough to Eli for her to be clingy towards, like she had been so many years back.

It made her feel hope.

* * *

_**A/N: **_Honestly, I feel like I didn't do too good a job with this chapter and I feel I ended off pretty weirdly too. I've tried my best for now though so maybe I'll come back to revise the chapters once I'm done with the whole fic.

Izumi wasn't meant to be a recurring character at all but I realised that I'd accidentally given her too much description before so it's weird if she doesn't show up again. She won't show up very often though, I don't want an OC to take up the spotlight after all.

Sorry for updating so slowly guys, been busy with school, exams, writer's block and stuff, so thank you all so much for following, favouriting, and reviewing this fic, it really heartens me to see you guys enjoy my fic.

If you spot any mistakes, please feel free to point them out so I can correct them, and any tips on how to improve my writing will be greatly appreciated!


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